The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will initiate an environmental review of Vineyard Northeast’s proposed offshore wind energy project, located 29 miles offshore Nantucket, Massachusetts at its closest point.
BOEM estimates the proposed project would generate up to 2,600MW of electricity, enough to power more than 900,000 homes with clean renewable energy.
The approximately 132,370-acre Lease Area is located some 29 miles (mi) from Nantucket and approximately 39 mi offshore Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
Highlights from Vineyard Northeast’s proposal include the following:
• Installation of up to 160 wind turbine generators, up to three electrical service platforms (ESPs), and one booster station in an adjacent lease area.
• Two offshore export cable corridors – one to Connecticut and one to Massachusetts – and associated onshore transmission systems.
Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of the Interior has approved the nation's first six commercial scale offshore wind projects, held four offshore wind lease auctions – including a record-breaking sale offshore New York and the first-ever sale offshore the Pacific and Gulf Coasts, initiated environmental review of 13 offshore wind projects, and advanced the process to explore additional Wind Energy Areas in Oregon, Gulf of Maine and Central Atlantic. The Department has also taken steps to evolve its approach to offshore wind to drive towards union-built projects and a domestic based supply chain.
